Used EV for S New Mexico?

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

IssacZachary

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 13, 2017
Messages
881
Location
Gunnison, CO, USA
Any suggestions for a used EV for southern New Mexico?

Something with a 50 mile or better range for under $7,000. Just basically a grocery getter.

I know the summer heat there with no garage may wreak havoc on most EV's. It would be nice to get 10 years or more out of a battery (I'm not sure if that's being reasonable.) I don't want to have to deal with terrible range issues or high battery replacement fees within just a few years. Which is why I'm steering away from the Leaf for this reason, with maybe a slight inclination for a 2015 Lizard Leaf if found for the right price. But I'm not sure if southern New Mexico is the place to steer away from all EV's.

I'm kind of leaning towards the Fiat 500E, but don't know much about them. And Fiat doesn't have a great reliability reputation and bringing one in from California could be a problem once things start breaking down and there's no Fiat dealer to deal with it. So I'm not quite sure.

Another one that seems ok would be the Smart for 2 ED. I would prefer more than just two seats, but if this car has the best battery I would take it over the others.

Fit EV? Spark EV? Ford? Mitsubishi? Yes, I know that I'd probably have to ship one in from California. But is there a used EV that would take the heat of southern New Mexico? That's my first question I would like to answer. Hopefully my Googling skills will get me some answers.

If not an EV I'm thinking a used Honda Fit or perhaps even a Mitsubishi Mirage. Like I said, just basically a grocery getter, something to take to the clinic and back. Perhaps visit the grandkids on the other side of town from time to time.
 
Steer away from Ford Focus--battery does not tolerate heat well. Service will be problematical for all of the California compliance cars (Spark, Fit, Soul, 500E, and others). I like the Smart ED, but I don't know if it has enough range to meet your criteria. A 2015 or later LEAF with heat pump originally used in cool climate might be your best bet for EV, but inexpensive small ICE car would also be a good choice.
 
GerryAZ said:
Steer away from Ford Focus--battery does not tolerate heat well. Service will be problematical for all of the California compliance cars (Spark, Fit, Soul, 500E, and others). I like the Smart ED, but I don't know if it has enough range to meet your criteria. A 2015 or later LEAF with heat pump originally used in cool climate might be your best bet for EV, but inexpensive small ICE car would also be a good choice.
Thanks! The Smart supposedly has a 76 mile range?? I think that would be enough until I lose 1/3 of that. Granted, I know that in real life that could be much less. I do like the Smart ED too, except the two passenger design. But two are better than one I guess.
 
I personally would try to go for the Spark EV, if you can find them. I believe these have liquid cooling for the battery, and some components are shared with the Volt, so if your local Chevy dealer can fix one of these, chances are they can fix a Spark EV too. It also has 400 lb-ft of torque, twice that of the Leaf.

I checked the Carmax website and there are two out of their Arizona stores that they are willing to ship to the Albuquerque store for just $99 and three more out of their SoCal stores for $249. Prices are in the $10.6-11.6k range with 22-51k miles. I know that's more than you were looking to pay, but to be honest I don't think you can find a Leaf for $7k that will maintain a 50+ mile range for more than a couple of years in the heat of southern NM.

IssacZachary said:
The Smart supposedly has a 76 mile range??

Per the EPA website, the Smart ED only has 58 miles of range as of the 2018 model (2019's are not yet listed on the FuelEconomy.gov website).
 
Back
Top